The concept of Transitional Justice has long found its way into the legal, social and political discourses in societies undergoing fundamental social change. Broadly speaking, it refers to the belief that any State where mass atrocities have taken place should engage with a set of judicial and non-judicial processes in order to achieve a successful transition from conflict to peace or repression to democracy. Although transitional justice processes can be traced back at least to the Nuremberg trials, it was only in 1992 that the term itself began to be used to refer to those judicial and non-judicial processes and mechanisms in a systematic manner. However, the meaning, scope and aims of transitional justice are still far from clear and uncontested.
The module will provide students with an overview of the history, theory, legal background and dilemmas of transitional justice, followed by in-depths discussions of the four pillars of transitional justice, truth, justice, reparations and guarantees of non-recurrence, and of their interrelatedness. Students will also be introduced to selected current topics such as the role of exhumations and the economic and social dimensions of transitional justice. At the end, specific case studies will be considered to demonstrate how the various aspects of transitional justice play out in different contexts.
- Module Supervisor: Sabine Michalowski